A6 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012 | THE COURIER-JOURNAL FROM PAGE ONE | courier-journal.com KY

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the old Lucky Strike clubstorefront, then occupy thespace with one of its sub-sidiary companies.

A resolution explainingthe new $850,000 loan saysthat the unnamed companyCordish wants as a tenantwill “create approximately100 jobs.”

But Republican councilmembers such as Downardaren’t sold on the deal.

“It means that the(building owner) down thestreet who wants to bid onthe same tenant has nochance at all,” he said. “It’sinappropriate for us to bechoosing winners and los-ers in real estate transac-tions.”

Council President JimKing hadn’t been briefedon the loan proposal as ofTuesday. “I look forward tohearing about it, but I’mcertainly not there yet” onapproving it, he said.

The arrangement is notthe way economic-develop-ment incentives typicallyare handled, where taxbreaks or cash incentivesusually go through theKentucky Economic De-velopmentFinanceAuthor-ity. The authority thenholds companies account-able for creating the num-ber of jobs with the salarylevels specified in the con-tract.

Fischer spokesmanChris Poynter said themayor is confident that“there will be assurances”in the loan agreement to“make sure the city is get-ting its money’s worth.”

David Morris, the city'sassistant economic devel-opment director, said theloan will be forgiven in in-crements of 20 percent foreach year the tenant staysin thebuilding.Morris,whorefused to name the tenant,said Cordish would be re-sponsible for repaying any

portion of the loan that isnot forgiven if the tenantleaves early.

The tenant would occu-py two floors in the Kauf-man Straus Building,which sits in the center ofthe entertainment district.

“Cordish is trying toland an office tenant thatwould take floors three andsix in the building,” Morrissaid. “They wanted this asan incentive to put on thetable to induce the compa-ny to locate there. It is anoffice tenant, and theywould bring somewherearound 100 jobs.

“We think it’s a goodthing to bring jobs down-town.”

Morris would not pro-vide The Courier-Journalwith a copy of the loanagreement Tuesday, sayingit was not “finalized,” thusmaking it a draft and ex-empt from disclosure un-der Kentucky’s Open Rec-ords law.

A Cordish spokeswom-an responded to an e-mailfrom The Courier-Journalrequesting an interview byasking for specific ques-tions. She did not respondfurther after receiving thequestions.

Councilman David Tan-dy, a Democrat who repre-sents the 4th District,which includes downtown,called the loan agreement“just a different tool in thetool box to enhance eco-nomic development in thecity.” Tandy is sponsoringthe resolution.

“It’s not something thatstrikes me as being wayoutside the norm,” he said.

Many council membershave considered the entire$1.8 million agreementwith Cordish outside thenorm.

The money was origi-nally promised to Cordishto refurbish the downtownStarks Building so that itcould lure a national sea-

food restaurant chain for aproposed expansion of 4thStreet Live to be calledCenter City.

But Cordish was evictedfrom the building after itfailed to pay nearly $50,000in back rent.

Cordish officials thenasked the city if the loancould instead be used at 4thStreet Live, and Mayor Jer-ry Abramson’s administra-tion agreed to the arrange-ment without informingthe council.

After Cordish appliedfor the $950,000 loan in Jan-uary 2009, it became a con-tentious and controversialissue — particularly afterit was learned that a Cor-dish subsidiary called theLouisville Sports and So-cial Club would move intothe space.

Former Councilman HalHeiner, a 2010 mayoral can-didate, called it “free no-strings-attached money,”while Downard called theloan a “travesty.”

The Courier-Journaltried for months to obtainrecords of how the loan wasused, but Cordish said itwould not make them pub-lic because they were “pro-prietary.” Instead, it sent aletter to the city signed bythe company's chief of fi-nancial reporting, sayingthat the money had beenspent appropriately.

Abramson initially saidthe letter satisfied him. Butafter being pressed, he an-nounced that his economicdevelopment directorwould personally inspectthe records. Eventually, ateam of five city officialstraveled to Baltimore to re-view the spending.

Mike Norman, the city’sinternal auditor at the time,came back saying the rec-ords “appeared to substan-tiate” that the money hadbeen used appropriately,but that he could offer noassurances as to the rec-

ords “completeness, accu-racy or reliability.”

The Metro Council sub-sequently adopted an ordi-nance requiring companiesto give spending records tothe city when requested bythe internal auditor.

Morris said the loanagreement with Cordishmust be approved by the

council because the 2009loan agreement only al-lowed money to be used bythe developer to refurbishspace for a first-floor baror restaurant — not as cashincentive to lure a compa-ny to occupy office space.

Morris said Cordish hasbeen been “struggling” tofind tenants for the Kauf-

man Straus building. Fourof the six floors are vacant,he said.

“It’s a good thing for 4thStreet Live to have 100 peo-ple coming out of the officespace for lunch every day,”Morris said.

Reporter Dan Klepal can bereached at (502) 582-4475.

CORDISH: Developer could get city loan to attract tenant for office buildingContinued from Page A1

PHOENIX — A surgingRick Santorum is makingincreasingly harsh re-marks about President Ba-rack Obama, questioningnot just the president’scompetence but his mo-

tives andeven hisChristianvalues.

MittRomneyalso issharpeninghis anti-Obamarhetoric.

He said Tuesday the presi-dent governs with “a secu-lar agenda” that hurts reli-gious freedom. In general,however, the former Mas-sachusetts governor hasnot seriously challengedObama’s motives, oftensaying the president is de-cent but inept.

But Santorum and NewtGingrich have heightenedtheir claims that Obama’sintentions are not alwaysbenign, ahead of tonight’stelevised GOP presidentialdebate and next week’s pri-maries in Michigan and Ar-izona.

Santorum, the formerPennsylvania senator whosuddenly is threateningRomney in his native stateof Michigan, says Obamacares only about power, notthe “interests of people.”He says “Obamacare,” thehealth care overhaul Oba-ma enacted, includes a“hidden message” aboutthe president’s disregardfor impaired fetuses,which might be aborted.

Santorum even seemedto compare Obama to AdolfHitler, although he deniestrying to do so.

Santorum’s remarkshave gotten only scatteredattention because heweaves them into long,

sometimes ramblingspeeches. Romney’s teamis monitoring Santorum’scomments, privately

suggesting they could hurthim in a general election.

But it’s difficult forRomney to openly criticize

Santorum on these pointsbecause Romney alreadyhas trouble appealing tothe party’s socially conser-vative base. Santorum’s re-marks could come up in to-night’s debate in Mesa,Ariz.

Gingrich, campaigningMonday in Oklahoma,called Obama “the mostdangerous president inmodern American histo-ry.” Gingrich said the ad-ministration’s “willful dis-honesty” about alleged ter-rorists’ motives threatensthe country.

Gingrich has long beenknown for over-the-toprhetoric, and Santorum’srapid rise in the polls hasdrawn much of the cam-paign’s focus away fromthe former House speaker.

Some of Santorum’s re-

marks echo attacks on Oba-ma during the 2008 presi-dential race, when criticsportrayed him as a myste-rious politician with hiddenmotives and questionableallegiance to the U.S.

On Saturday in Colum-bus, Ohio, Santorum criti-cized Obama for requiringhealth insurance plans tocover prenatal testing. Hesaid such tests lead to“more abortions and there-fore less care that has to bedone, because we cull theranks of the disabled in oursociety. That too is part ofObamacare, another hid-den message as to whatPresident Obama thinks ofthose who are less able thanthe elites who want to gov-ern our country.”

Obama campaignspokeswoman Lis Smithsaid “prenatal screeningsare essential to promotethe health of both the moth-er and baby and to ensuresafe deliveries.”

Santorum sharpens attacks on ObamaBy Charles BabingtonAssociated Press

Obama

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum deniedMonday that he was likening President Barack Obama toAdolf Hitler. AP

DEBATECNN will televise a Repub-lican presidential debatetonight at 8.

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